Windows 2000 and later guest operating systems might be unable to initialize Flexible virtual adapters if VMware Tools is not installed

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Because of an issue in the inbox AMD PCNET family PCI Ethernet adapter driver, Windows guest operating systems might be unable to initialize the device. This results in a device status of This device can not start.(Code 10).

Inbox drivers are included with ESXi when you perform the initial installation.

The issue occurs in virtual machines that run Windows 2000 or later and use a Flexible virtual network adapter.

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 5.1
VMware vCenter Server 5.1.x

Resolution

This issue does not occur if VMware Tools is installed on the guest operating system, which causes the Flexible virtual adapter to use the VMXNET 2 device driver.

AMD has released an updated device driver for AMD PCNET devices that resolves this issue. The driver is available for download at http://support.amd.com/fr/Embedded_TechDownloads/V4.51.zip.